Errr...well, it's at least a step from IL-2, but they may have done the splits.
I played Birds of Prey a few years ago, and while it was very lackluster, I was glad to have a step towards a propre flight sim on the console. Menus were barren, options were few but major, the story, a new feature in IL-2 games, was decent, and difficulty even on the simplified level was a challenge.
Playing Birds of Steel, there is more presentation than there was before. Menus are still basic but it works and so does the menu system. AI is competent all the time, and the planes...well I'll take the developers word on realism here, but I don't think it'd be far off. Instead of a story, you are put in the fight with rundowns of history and some exerps from veterans. It's all in the Pacific, and there are a training string, a US string, and a Japanese string that do the job. These only go to Guadalcanal though, so brevity is common.
Plane detail, a meticulate part of the IL-2 series and excellently rendered in BoP, is mixed. As new planes, they look real so no issues there. the issues develop as you get hit. First, no consistent damage. You will keep getting hit and your plane wont show it until damage hits a certain point, at which time the damaged area will no longer look pristine and will now look like swiss cheese with burn marks.
Also, when the wings or the tail fall off, best bet is to immediately bail, which, as it's predecessor did, the game will do immediately. Fine, but if the engine dies, or the tanks catch fire, or if an engine on a multi-engined craft dies, I shouldn't HAVE to bail. If it can still be controlled, even minutely, then let me try to save the damn thing.
Online....has issues. Lag is bad, connectivity is questionable, and though it has started improving, for some unknown reason about 2/3 to 3/4 want to play at either Kuban or Ruhr. I am tired of Kuban and Ruhr, but I'll still play them when the two biggest issues decide to work properly.
One thing I'd like to see more of in the rest of the industry is in game bonuses, in this case decals and paint jobs, that can be earned by the players so they can have a aircraft with personal touches.
The quandry I have is a recommendation. All I can come to is that if you like flying sims in general, you might pick this up. If you want something different from what you normally play, you can certainly do much worse. However, If you have played an IL-2 game up to 1946, you will probably be dissapointed.